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I pretty much use geek and nerd interchangeably and no matter how you look at it there's a lot of crossover.

I don't know if you'd consider me a nerd or a geek. I'm basically an expert on Star Trek. Passable on Star Wars. Familiar with some basic comic book lore but don't actually like comics. I play Magic the Gathering. I collect, assemble and paint sci-fi miniatures. I play tabletop war games. I obsess over franchises like Terminator, Predator and Aliens. I read the Song of Ice and Fire novels before anybody at HBO had ever uttered the words Game of Thrones. I could go on and on. My housemate is exactly the same. We've just spent the last 12 hours or so playing Magic the Gathering together. That was our entire Saturday. Nerds, geeks, whatever...we're certainly something. And we both love Big Bang.

I don't expect mainstream comedy to be particularly realistic. That's why I tend to stick to things like Party Down. Or, better yet, high-end drama with good comedic elements. The Big Bang gang are not all that believable as serious scientists, but then again, maybe my idea of what a real scientist is is outdated and not so applicable to my own generation.

Barney may not technically be a rapist, but it's pretty damn close when you ply a woman with alcohol and then lie about every detail of your life in order to make her have sex. I seem to remember one where he convinces a woman he's from the future and she must have sex with him to save all of mankind or something. You know what, fuck it, I think this should constitute some kind of rape. Statutory rape is a thing. This should be a thing. Maybe. But whatever, it's despicable and it's in the same ballpark and I have seen many episodes where his friends encourage his behaviour, even assist in it. It adds to rape culture. Even if he grows as a character, you don't get that when you just watch an occasional episode. And you don't get that if you're an idiotic and impressionable young male.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

Sheldon especially is supposed to be such a huge nerd, but for a nerd, he strangely has very few nerd interests and tends more to geek interests. If they wanted to make a show about geeks, they should've made a show about geeks. It just comes across that the writers can't differentiate, and now that I think about it, it seems that geeks love the show and nerds hate it. That might make more sense, I suppose.

Like many mediocre comedies, BBT suffers from not being very funny. I think I'd single it out because I can't stand looking at it. Its too... Uncanncy Valley-esque. Almost characters doing almost jokes on an almost set. At least HIMYM has the trappings of reality, though that was also a comedy I couldn't really get into. The tone felt off, and I had friends who quoted it way too often, which is comedy-death.

I almost never watch sitcoms, so I couldn't really say much. I saw the first season of Louie, that was funny. Then it got weird.

Well I guess I'll just out myself and say that I can pretty much always enjoy an episode of Family Guy or Cleveland Show.

To add fuel to the fire, if you think Futurama or King of the Hill are funny, you're a robot.

I also think Big Bang deserves credit for actually being filmed in front of a real audience and using real laughter. Though honestly nothing spoils a comedy for me more than laughter, be it real or canned.

Originally Posted by wheelchairman

Well I guess I'll just out myself and say that I can pretty much always enjoy an episode of Family Guy or Cleveland Show.

To add fuel to the fire, if you think Futurama or King of the Hill are funny, you're a robot.

I used to really enjoy King of the Hill. Perhaps because it had strong elements of drama. Arguably more drama than comedy. Otherwise I'm totally with you. And three out of four aint bad.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

Save for the Simpsons (and Archer), King of the Hill was probably the best written animated show - it was the perfect blend of satire and sincerity regarding its subject matter.

I enjoy Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. Neither are close to being my favorite shows on television at the moment, but are enjoyable and pretty inoffensive. I'm always pretty perplexed when I hear people say they hate them.

Originally Posted by Tom Gabel

Adrenaline carried one last thought to fruition.
Let this be the end.
Let this be the last song.
Let this be the end.
Let all be forgiven.

it was the perfect blend of satire and sincerity regarding its subject matter.

Yep, that's what I wish I'd said.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

I pretty much use geek and nerd interchangeably and no matter how you look at it there's a lot of crossover.

I don't know if you'd consider me a nerd or a geek. I'm basically an expert on Star Trek. Passable on Star Wars. Familiar with some basic comic book lore but don't actually like comics. I play Magic the Gathering. I collect, assemble and paint sci-fi miniatures. I play tabletop war games. I obsess over franchises like Terminator, Predator and Aliens. I read the Song of Ice and Fire novels before anybody at HBO had ever uttered the words Game of Thrones. I could go on and on. My housemate is exactly the same. We've just spent the last 12 hours or so playing Magic the Gathering together. That was our entire Saturday. Nerds, geeks, whatever...we're certainly something. And we both love Big Bang.

It could boil down to the fact that I consider myself a bit of a nerd, and so do most of my friends... and I constantly have people "recommending" BBT to me. "It's nerd comedy - you'll love it!!" I guess I find that BBT is shoved down my throat far more often than any other show that's currently on. And I tried watching it, and realized that Penny is the character I was supposed to relate to... and that drove me nuts. I watched three seasons, and I still get chewed out for not giving it enough of a chance because it's LOLSOFUNNEHHH. I'm told that I "don't get it" and that's why I don't like it. It's not hard to "get". It's pretty damn simple, actually.

Barney may not technically be a rapist, but it's pretty damn close when you ply a woman with alcohol and then lie about every detail of your life in order to make her have sex. I seem to remember one where he convinces a woman he's from the future and she must have sex with him to save all of mankind or something. You know what, fuck it, I think this should constitute some kind of rape. Statutory rape is a thing. This should be a thing. Maybe. But whatever, it's despicable and it's in the same ballpark and I have seen many episodes where his friends encourage his behaviour, even assist in it. It adds to rape culture. Even if he grows as a character, you don't get that when you just watch an occasional episode. And you don't get that if you're an idiotic and impressionable young male.

Maybe he is, I never really thought about it. I mean, it's always rubbed me the wrong way when male friends say that Barney is awesome and he's their favorite character. I've heard people say they relate most to him, and I've never ben a fan of that. I always felt like Barney was supposed to intentionally be scum, but maybe he's not. Either way, he's never been my favorite character - I've always related most to Robin, who is an awesome character. The show kind of sucks now, though, and I wouldn't consider myself a fan anymore. But at least everyone I know who likes the show agrees that's pretty much trash now. Meanwhile, there are zero characters for a woman to relate to on any Chuck Lorre show. BBT is just depressing.

The only comedies that are currently airing that I would actually consider myself a fan of are Parks and Recreation, and to a lesser extent, Community.

Originally Posted by Paint_It_Black

I also think Big Bang deserves credit for actually being filmed in front of a real audience and using real laughter. Though honestly nothing spoils a comedy for me more than laughter, be it real or canned.

I actually find the laughter on BBT to be one of the more annoying aspects to it. Not because it's live, but because it's especially loud and frequent.

I don't like any other Chuck Lorre shows and I was surprised when I found out Big Bang was one of his. I'm not really going to address any of your female-centric complaints about this particular show other than to say this is openly a show that is all about the guys. It's not meant to be about women at all. And that's ok, isn't it? There are shows where the only focus is on the female characters too. Like, I don't know, Sex and the City or something. So who cares if the women in Big Bang are largely just rarely seen mothers and supporting character girlfriends? Though I should also point out that both Bernadette and Amy are highly intelligent and successful scientists themselves and for a long time Raj and Howard weren't really developed as characters any more than the girls were. The show was primarily about Leonard and Sheldon. And it's also a show in which all the characters are flawed, men and women alike, and all have their strengths too.

I used to hate Big Bang as much as all other disposable mainstream comedy and I also disliked that feeling that it was being pushed on me too hard. Then I forgot about the show for years before randomly watching an episode and deciding it wasn't that bad. I eventually watched another one and that wasn't too awful either. And it just sort of kept going like that until I had to admit I really liked it.

I think a lot of people have trouble differentiating between shit they like and stuff that is actually good. Big Bang is in the category of shit I like but I couldn't objectively call it good because it is still disposable mainstream comedy. Party Down is good. Community is (or can be) good. Peep Show is amazing. Inbetweeners is amazing. Then there is stuff I don't like but I still have to objectively admit is good. Stuff like the Simpsons.

Originally Posted by Llamas

I've always related most to Robin

That's the sort-of-hot-but-not-hot-enough-to-piss-off-female-viewers trophy that Barney and Ted get to compete for, right? Pretty sure every woman who watches the show is meant to relate to her.

Originally Posted by Llamas

It could boil down to the fact that I consider myself a bit of a nerd

Hold on there little girl, you got something to back that up? I was nice enough to prove my nerdiness even though you already know I have a penis and therefore automatically don't need to prove shit. You'd better be about to pull some serious credentials out of your vagina or else get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.

I actually felt ill typing that.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks

You need to be a little careful about what you click on but when you get the hang of it they work great. This is how I keep up with Boardwalk Empire and other shows like that. The video quality is surprisingly good most of the time.

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks